Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Reconsiderations) Bill 2025. In the first instance, can I just say thank you to the shadow minister for the environment, Senator Duniam, and the Tasmanian Liberal team. If not for their efforts prosecuting the case for the Tasmanian salmon workers down there in their home state, then, quite frankly, these people would have lost their jobs. They have quite literally, through their strong advocacy—standing up for people in Tasmania whose jobs would have been at risk if this legislation did not go through—forced the Albanese government to come to the table.

Tonight, this will finally put an end to the chaos that has been visited upon the Tasmanian salmon industry by the Albanese government and Minister Plibersek. But when you look at the title of the bill and you actually explore the bill, you see that there is so much more to it. This bill is emblematic of the chaos within the Albanese government, and this has been going on for some time now. This is not the first time this chaos has arisen. It has been happening for some time now over the environmental portfolio. In fact, some may say they haven't seen the relevant minister, Tanya Plibersek, for some time—and they'd be right, because she has been emasculated: she is not allowed to make decisions in relation to this portfolio, because, as we all know, the decisions that she would make would bell the cat in relation to what a future minority Labor-Greens-Teal government would look like. So she is literally being silenced until after the election. And no greater example of this silencing of a minister—who, but for being silenced, would make a decision, but a decision that is adverse to the people of Western Australia—is the one in relation to the extension of the North West Shelf gas hub.

Anyone in Western Australia can tell you that this project is of vital importance to our great state. Quite frankly, it is an absolute disgrace, an act of cynical political manipulation, that, regarding the decision on whether to extend the life of this project—and it's not just about the life of the project; it's about what this project does, which is basically ensure that Western Australians have a supply of gas, are able to turn their lights on, whether for people living at home or for businesses, going to work every single day—Mr Albanese has told Ms Plibersek that, even though she should have made the decision last year and given certainty to the industry and, more than that, showed their true colours to Western Australians, the decision has been delayed.

If that was not bad enough, there was last night. 'Sneaky' is all you can call this. Last night, on budget night, what did they quietly do? They did it with no fanfare, no announcement, hoping that the people of Western Australia, who have long relied on the North West Shelf gas project—as I said, gas is where we get the majority of our energy from in WA. What did Mr Albanese do? He pushed that decision out, quietly quietly, until 31 May. What an absolute disgrace! At least have the guts to stand up, do a press conference and tell all Western Australians—in particular Premier Roger Cook, who himself stood up to Mr Albanese and said he would like to see this approved because the Western Australian government spent six years going through their approval processes and came to the decision that this project needed an extension. But, no, Mr Albanese doesn't want Western Australians to know, prior to the federal election, that he has well and truly walked away from WA. More than that: his policy decisions will have a detrimental impact on our great state. Any Western Australian knows we always need to fight to preserve our prosperity, and we are going to have a hell of a fight on our hands to preserve our prosperity in the shadows of a second-term Albanese government, governing in minority with the Australian Greens and the teals.

What's so disappointing, though, about the Western Australian federal Labor members is: where are they? Where are the senators? Where's Madeleine King, the member for Brand? Where's Patrick Gorman? He's the Prime Minister's assistant minister. Where are they every day in terms of standing up and doing press conferences, standing up for the people of Western Australia—for the people they allegedly represent—and saying: 'Get your skates on. Do something that's in the best interests of the Western Australian people. Make a decision, if nothing else, on the approval of the North West Shelf gas hub extension'? Western Australians expect the people they elect to this place to stand up for Western Australia, and that is something that the WA federal Liberal team have done time and time again. We were successful in negotiating a better share of the GST, Western Australia's fair share of the GST, and we will continue to stand up for our great state, in particular in the face of a detrimental decision to be made after the next election by Mr Albanese and Ms Plibersek.

Let's talk about what the North West Shelf actually is. Anyone who understands Western Australia knows it is an economic powerhouse for our state. This is not new. They're not asking if they can turn the first sod on a project. This is a project that has been in operation, ensuring that Western Australians have a reliable supply of gas, for 40 years. On top of that, it has delivered over $40 billion in taxes and royalties since 1984. Imagine if we were to take that $40 billion away from our economy. Imagine what we would not have. But thanks to Woodside, thanks to the North West Shelf project—as I said, it's been going for 40 years—that project has delivered to the Australian economy $40 billion in taxes and royalties.

But more than that, this is where Mr Albanese's true colours are coming through. Your true colours are coming through here. You've walked away from WA. What's worse is you don't have the guts to make a decision and tell us where you sit on this project. This is a project that has provided mums and dads in Western Australia, small businesses in Western Australia, manufacturers in Western Australia with a reliable source of domestic gas. That's what this project represents to us. It's not a big project up north somewhere. Mr Albanese, as the Prime Minister of our country, you are playing with our reliable source of domestic gas. You are playing with Western Australia's energy, and, quite frankly, that is unacceptable.

We've made it very clear that if we are given the privilege of being elected to government, we will ensure that we make a decision on this project within 30 days of being elected. It took Roger Cook, the Premier of Western Australia, six years to work through whether or not this project should be given an extension. And guess what? He did it. There is no logical reason not to given that the Premier of Western Australia—a Labor premier, ironically, given the stance of Mr Albanese working against our great state of Western Australia—has extended it. I can't see any reason at all that a decision cannot be made by this government.

We're going to put Labor senators to a test tonight. When this legislation is voted on, we are going to be moving an amendment. Senator Duniam and the WA federal Liberal team will proudly be voting for these amendments because we believe in the state of Western Australia. We will stand up for the state of Western Australia. We want to ensure that the people of Western Australia continue to have a reliable source of domestic gas. I say to all Western Australians: you know what you're going to get under us, under a Liberal government. You'll get certainty. You'll get certainty in the economic powerhouse that is our great North West Shelf. You will get certainty on billions of dollars of future royalties flowing through to Western Australia and the Australian economy. You will get certainty for mums and dads at home, for small businesses, for manufacturing businesses, for anybody who uses energy, anybody who uses gas. Under a Peter Dutton government, you will get certainty as to what we stand for.

What it also means is this: if Mr Albanese doesn't approve this project, people are going to lose their jobs. People in Western Australia will lose their jobs. Mr Albanese doesn't seem to care. So, you have a whole lot of people who currently work on the North West Shelf project who are doing what we, as Western Australians, need them to do each and every day. They've been doing it for years and years and years.